


By the River

by prettyface_lonelyheart



Category: Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Genre: Based on a folktale, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 10:15:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18071480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettyface_lonelyheart/pseuds/prettyface_lonelyheart
Summary: Ever asked yourself why rainbows exist? Based on a Filipino folktale, this tells the story of Estrelya, who meets a woodsman named Aldo.





	By the River

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of a creative project I did for Contemporary Lit, in which we had to respond to one or more works we've read in the semester so far. I chose to respond to _The Woman Warrior_ by Maxine Hong Kingston, a memoir in which the author uses a combination of her own voice and the voice of other characters, such as Fa Mu Lan (yes, _that_ one!)
> 
> I mirrored the format of _The Woman Warrior_ , however, I removed the "present day" parts of my story (Kingston shifts between the time period of Fa Mu Lan's story and her own), as those are irrelevant to what I want to focus on here.

I open my eyes and I’m met with light blue. Light blue and big tufts of white. It was when I saw a hint of a blinking light in the white that I knew where I was.

The last thing I remember before the lights went out was flying into a tree. 

We don’t have them in the Sky, so I’ve never seen one up close before. It was brown with gold sprouts on top.

I flew to it and—

_I flew._

I quickly sat up, unknowingly inviting sheer pain across my upper back.

I didn’t feel the usual gust of air when I tried to spread my wings.

Tried.

“Ah... ow...” I winced and turned my head to investigate. 

Only the pain was even worse when I did, so I faced forward again.

My legs had angry, red scratches. Remnants from the bark pierced my skin.

 _W-What was that?_  

I heard a ‘ruffle, ruffle, crunch” of leaves. The noises were getting louder. 

The insides of my chest twisted, all the air in my lungs evaporating.

I didn't who, or what, was coming. Not only that, but I had no way of escaping.

The pain was too much. There was no way I could get up and outrun whatever it was that spotted me.

I did the only thing I _could_ , physically.

Saltwater trickled over my cheeks.

The crackling stopped and I heard a voice take its place.

"H-Hello?" 

I slowly tipped my head up. There was a figure holding an ax.

My cries amplified, I curled my legs up against my chest and buried my face in my knees, preparing for the inevitable.

I was met only with a muffled thud on the grass a few feet away before sensing the person was right in front of me.

"Hey, don't you worry. I ain't gonna hurt you," he said, a hint of woe wrapped around his southern twang.

Something about that voice was reassuring. So gentle.

I looked up from my knees.

The blue eyes that met me were the prettiest I've ever seen. They were like Mediterranean waters: mostly clear blue with some dark spots.

He gave me a small smile, lifting the stubble above his lip.

Without knowing at first, I mirrored his expression, albeit more shyly. 

The inside of my chest reverberated, accompanied by a wave of warmth. 

"Is everything okay?" his face changed back to that of concern.

I didn't know if I was going to tell him. He's a mortal. What if he knew? Would he parade me around to his men? After all, I couldn't fly. What if I couldn't fly away anymore and I was stuck here? I didn't want to be here. I didn't exactly want to be in the Sky either, at least not right now. The king will not be happy.

But the human looked over my shoulder anyway, probably taking not of the broken glass-like shards scattered on the dirt.

"W-What's this?" he eyed the remnants of my wings.

"I, um..." I began, my mind going through anything I could say, but to no avail.

He stood up and went around me.

I could just see it: my new life in a cage, many eyes ogling the creature inside.

"D-Don't!" I tried to twist my upper body away from him but fell to the ground, the pain sending shock waves through me. "Ow!" 

The man got in front of me again and helped me sit up. 

"Here, let me," he says, taking a basket from where he'd left his ax.

I slowly swiveled my whole body with my heels in the dirt, watching him pick up the rose gold fragments and placing them in the basket.

He looped his arm through the handle until it rested over the inside of his elbow, then he got closer.

"My cabin isn't too far away from here. I have some bandages and a fireplace," he smiled, then added reassuringly. "It's me and a family next door. A nice couple and their baby," he told me.

I didn't have a lot of choices. I could either go and risk being taken captive or refuse and have no other way of getting back to the Sky. That cabin sounds nicer than staying out here in the cold. What if, somehow, I recovered. What then? Now with wings visible, I could be shown—

"You don't have to stay with me if you don't want to. But may I at least help you get cleaned up?" he asked as if sensing my thought process. 

I glanced at the scratches on my limbs and the mud on my dress. I'm sure my face didn't look any better.

"Sure, but I don't think I can stand... and I'm probably too heavy," I felt my cheeks turn pink.

He scooped me up in his arms, bringing both of us from the ground.

"Didn't think so," he said with a charming smirk.

As he walked from whence he came, I looked back at his ax.

"Hey, what about—"

"I haven't forgotten. I cut down trees for a living, after all," he chuckled. 

There was a minute of silence between us, with nothing but birds singing and twigs popping in two under his boots. 

"I'm Aldo, by the way," he turned his head to face me, not stopping his trek through the woods.

"Estrelya."

* * *

 From then on, Aldo helped me immensely.

Once he took me in, he let me wash the dirt off my body in a fenced area of the backyard, before fixing up my cuts and bruises. He made a brace for my back and reconstructed my wings with the pieces he had. 

I let him wash my dress along with his beat up jeans and sweaters.

I stepped onto the deck, where he rubbed the fabric in the basin. Only he wasn't rubbing the fabric together, but running his thumb over where the spots may have been.

I giggled, putting my sleeve-covered hand over my mouth.

Aldo looked at me, a grin on his face forming. "What?"

"I think the friction will help," I playfully suggested.

He blushed. "The material looks so delicate. I don't wanna rip it."

 "It won't rip," I reassure him. 

Sky clothes don't get damaged easily. 

"You sure about that?" his eyebrows scrunched skeptically. 

"I'm sure," I swayed in place, my feet planted firmly on the steps while my body turned left, then right, then left again.

"If it does, I still have a lot of clothes you can borrow," he replied. "You look small and comfy in 'em."

Eventually, we'd fallen in love. I think I was first to be swayed by his charm, but he would say otherwise.

Not long after, we had Charlie, a beautiful ball of light with hair as dark as midnight and stars in his eyes. The light was bordered by the same Mediterranean Sea.

When the time came, Aldo helped me out of the brace. We were outside, drinking sweet iced tea. I had Charlie on my lap, cooing at him.

Suddenly, I sprung upwards, floating back to the Sky. It happened so fast; I couldn't even call out to Aldo.

Once we made it on a cloud, Charlie looked at the fluff and wiggled out of my arms.

"Charlie!" I gasped and reached out for him.

Surprisingly, he didn't fall through, instead crawling onto mounds of cloud, with some coming apart in smaller balls and covering his little head.

I exhaled, relieved, and found myself smiling. The happy memory of bathing him came to mind. Charlie loved the bubbles and Aldo would pile the foam over the baby's head.

That was all lost now, for a shadow bathed me in darkness. 

* * *

The king had taken my wings.

If I hadn't gone too far, none of this would've happened, he said.

He says this like it was the worst thing imaginable.

Relationships between Star people and mortals were forbidden.

But Aldo had given me everything I never had. He gave me a home and the sweetest child. He'd given me love, comfort, understanding. It broke my heart every day, every minute I was without him. Only at night could I release the sorrow it brought me. I cried in front of Charlie once, which made me feel worse, seeing his own innocent face confused by the display of emotions.

I needed to be strong for him. 

I'll need to find a way. 

I resumed my duties, working for the king. I wrote his speeches and delivered his scrolls.

For a while, it seems that I've gotten used to my old routine.

That was, until I discovered the window. 

Some distance away from the palace, there was a hole in a cloud. From there, I could see Aldo. Every time I went to the window, he was sitting by the river. Upon closer inspection, I recognized the place: it’s where we first met. 

I sobbed. I missed him. I’m sure Charlie missed him. I’ll never forget the light in Aldo’s eyes when I brought Charlie into the world. He was as happy as when we’d shared our first kiss by the fireplace.

I didn’t see any of that now. No smile, no bright eyes. And it was because of my wings. Because of me.

Through the window, I saw him put his hand out in front of him. He stood up and went back into his cabin, returning with an umbrella, which he opened.

I brought Charlie over whenever I could sneak away. It hurt me just as much seeing the baby coo and extend his arm towards his father. The stars in his eyes started to dim.

I could no longer hold back. I held him close and wept once more.

* * *

One day, the king found me. He told me how he’s known for days how much I longed to be with Aldo again.

As I wiped my tears, the king tossed his cape from the window. The colorful coat tails turned into a bridge.

“Go on,” he nodded in approval.

When I put one foot on the arch, he gently took my arm to stop me. “But remember. You mustn’t stay too long, for you will be stuck again, your immortality stripped.”

I've yet to see a mortal live to 1,000 years old.

I mustered up a “Yes, Your Majesty,” before leaving the Sky onto Earth.

I kept walking, with the rainbow fluorescence guiding me. 

The colors seeped from under my feet into the air in the form of a mist. Soon, the fog lifted and there I was.

By the river.


End file.
